Trip Highlight : Catherine's Photos of Scotland

Trip Highlight : Catherine's Photos of London

My friend Catherine is a professional photographer so naturally I like her photos from the trip better than mine. This a selection that I particularly like. Her blog is listed to the side if you are interested to see the others.

Trip Highlight : This space...

This space was near the London Eye. It was a large-scale environment made out of astro turf. I think every public space should have one.

Trip Highlight : The Highlands

On the last day of our trip we took a bus tour up into the Highlands of Scotland. It was an all day tour with a few stops in some villages. I can now say I have been in the center of Scotland as one of the villages, Aberdeen, resides in the center of the country. We did stop to say hi to "Hamish" the famous Scottish cow which happens to be the oldest breed of cow in the world (dating back to the 12th century). Our trip wrapped up with a whiskey distillery tour, the Grouse Distillery, Scotland's oldest distillery. Unfortunately, I am not a whiskey drinker, so I couldn't tell you if it was good or not. This last day was one of the best. When we did stop at creek in the mountains, I secretly wanted to go hide under a bridge and stay up there. I could have made a decent living weaving wool sweaters. My friend Catherine made me get back on the bus.
photo by Catherine Siegel
More about Highland Cows
The Grouse Distillery

Trip Highlight : The Designs

Trip Highlight : Stratford-upon-Avon

We took a train to Stratford-upon-Avon which is about 3 hours from London. Stratford is the birthplace and burial place of Shakespeare. We saw The Merchant of Venice at the Royal Shakespeare company. It was a great production. The set design and costumes were minimal (the men just wore suits) so the acting really stood out. The theatre we saw it in is temporary as they are building a new one. Although I wouldn't have known unless told as the design of it was really impressive.
We then went to The Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare is buried. I peeked inside and then walked through the beautiful cemetery that is outside the church. It happened to be raining and sunny at the same time, so the green grass and the church looked even more illustrated.
Shakespeare Bio site
The RSC site

Trip Highlight : The British Library

I think the British Library would have to be the first place I visit again if I ever return to London. We spent an hour there so I only got a glimpse of it. They have an amazing collection of manuscripts and assorted ephemera.
The British Library site

Trip Highlight : The Literary Pub Tour in Edinburgh

Yes, we did find ourselves in some London pubs, but the best experience was when we went on a "Literary Pub Tour" in Edinburgh. Two tour guides took us to four pubs off the Royal Mile, at each stop they recited some pieces all in the traditional Scottish dialect. I appreciated it for the literary history and the pub stops, but I was most impressed with the business plan of the small tour company. I guess there are 12 actors that are a part of this group and they each take turns running the tour daily, at 8 pounds a person (and that was just the student price).
photo by Catherine Siegel
Literary Pub Tour site

Trip Highlight : Castles

This was my first experience of looking across a landscape and seeing a castle in the distance, views I have only seen in those cheesy calendars I used to buy when I was younger. For some reason, castles have always fascinated me. I used to paint them quite often (when I was in high school). We went to Edinburgh Castle in Scotland and on the way to the highlands we stopped at Doune castle (pictured). They apparently filmed parts of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" here.

Trip Highlight : Psycho Buildings Exhibit

This exhibit has to be one of the best I have seen, well it is up there with Julie Taymor's exhibit I saw years ago. Ten artists create architecture-like structures that the viewers can interact with in some way. There was even one that incorporated the sense of smell, unfortunately, it was the one I wanted to touch the most but that was not allowed. The book for the exhibit came out the day after we went there, so now I am on the search for how to get one sent to me (at minimal charge of course).
Check out more images at the links below.
Psycho Buildings site
Photographs: David Levene (to see more click here)

Trip Highlight : Globe Theatre

We went to two productions at the Globe, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Merry Wives of Windsor. We stood as "groundlings" at both. The space was amazing in that it felt true to it's original structure and the way it opened up to the sky added a certain ambiance. We saw both productions in the the evening, so the sky turning from daylight to night time enhanced the experience. Going to two plays at The Globe allowed for us to see how the different set designs, costumes, and acting styles can change the feeling of the theatre.
Globe Site

Trip : Update...finally

A few weeks ago I traveled to the UK with 13 others. Four of us were chaperones for ten teenagers. It was a great experience and I would do it again in a second. The group was from a high school Kansas City, they were the Shakespeare Club. It was a club set up by two of the high school's English teachers. The students participated in this club by reading the plays and meeting for discussion throughout the year, I believe they have read over 20 plays. Half of the group came on the trip. We spent 6 days in London and 3 days in Edinburgh, Scotland. I will post a few highlights that I found the most interesting. We saw most of the typical tourist stops so I will spare you those details. Here is the group:

Here are the places we went but I don't highlight:
The National Portrait Gallery
The Tower of London
Westminster Abbey
Buckingham Palace
Beatles Tour
The British Museum
Tate Modern
The London Eye
Covent Garden